Great Camponian Civil War
''The Great Camponian Civil War ''or ''The Camponian Revolution ''as it is sometimes called, was a destructive conflict that ravaged most of the western world. Initiated when the emperor of Camponia, Chalder, tries to centralize authority and gain direct control over his dependancies and colonies. The colonies did not want to lose their freedom, and so formed a coalition to resist this new law. The Monarchy and the Coalition fought intensely for the next few years, on both land and sea. By 372 AF, most of the direct military encounters ceased, and instead each side sent small teams loot and burn towns and villages. By the year 378 AF, both sides' economies were in ruins, their populations decreasing rapidly, and their morale nonexistent. When the Yonnu turned on Chalder, their former employer, almost every single Camponian settlement in Mikana was destroyed. With no-one left to fight it, the war was declared over. Cronology Origin of Conflict The Grand Camponian Empire had in the years 140-320 AF conquered and subjugated a huge area of the Western world. The Empire controlled vast areas including the Arostrian promised land, the Isdean peninsula Freyl, Lynkhis, Britonia and Nulia. However, some of these lands had a great deal of autonomy, varying on how far they were from the capital. Some, like the trading colonies Tauria and Veria, had almost complete self-governance and even aspired to become fully independent states. The latter idea also resonated well with the non-Camponian subjects of the empire who had been conquered by Camponian armies in the previous years. In the largest city in Freyl, Fralenda, there had also been arguments of wether or they could become an independent state. Would they secede and cut all ties with Camponia or would they maintain relations? Would they become a city-state or a new empire? These questions were constantly being tossed around in the Fralendian court, and no one seemed to have the answer. When Emperor Nuron Chalder inherited the Camponian throne from his father in 366 AF, he knew that the empire was loosening apart because of the various independence movements throughout the empire. But he thought that he could glue it back together by lowering all autonomy and personally overseeing the lands, slowly eliminating all thought of independence. Beginning The news of Chalder's decision sent shockwaves throughout the empire. The aristocracy of Tauria almost immediately passed a unanimous vote to secede from the empire. The people of Khun began rioting and massacred many of the Camponian garrisons stationed throughout Khun. The Camponian nobles of Nulia, Lynkhis, Khun and Nimm were all deposed and or slaughtered. The Arostrians of the promised land rebelled and founded various city-states there. However, the cities of Seria and Ecbatana would come to dominate them all and would partition the promised land between each other. In Freyl, Fralenda passed a vote to secede and aid the fight against Camponia. But all the other revolts in Freyl were beat down by the Imperial Army, with as many as 100,000 rebels killed. After all this, in 367 AF, the empire only controlled Meranonia, half of Freyl, long island, and a few colonies in the bridging sea. However, the emperor still controlled the largest navy in the world, along with a sizeable ground army. The rebels of Tauria feared this immense army, for they knew they would not stand a chance against it. So they called a meeting for all the rebel factions' leaders, to discuss the creation of a military alliance against Camponia. While the imperial army was gathering in Meranonia, the rebel leaders met in secrecy and, aside from Nimm, unanimously voted to create the Rebel Coalition, which combined the armies of Veria, Tauria and Freyl states into a single organized military, with the armies of Khun, Nulia, Britonia and Lynkhis backing it up. Imperial offensive After the formation of the coalition, the first thing the imperials did was to isolate the various rebel armies from each other. The bulk of the ground army was sent north into the Isdean peninsula, where they would sack and rade nuerous Khun cities. A contingent of 14,000 men was sent south to fight Tauria, however it is unclear wether their objective was to simply hold the advance of Tauria or to conquer it. The Imperial navy was split into three parts, one to blockade Fralenda and other cities in Freyl, one to Isdea to blockade Khun and Veria, and the final part to blockade Tauria. The navy was successful in blockading Fralenda and Veria, but met heavy resistance from the taurian fleet. At the battle of the Bay of Tauria, the imperial and rebel fleets had a 3 week standoff before the rebels received reinforcements from Britonia. Then, lead by Admiral Huros the victorious, The rebel fleet either destroyed or captured a majority of the imperial ships, routing the rest. This was a major victory, both tactically and for the morale of the entire coalition. 1st Taurian campaign After this, the combined taurian-briton fleet sailed up the bridging sea with at least 200 warships. With their supply line by sea gone, the 14,000 man imperial army sent to fight Tauria retreated back north as quickly as they could. But the journey was too long, and when they reached the nearest city, they had lost 6,000 men to attrition. Taking advantage of this, the Taurian land army pushed north, taking numerous settlements and looting hundreds of villages. Thanks to the coalition fleet in the bridging sea and that the army sent to fight Tauria was half dead, the entire area between Meranonia and Tauria was vulnerable to the rebel armies. By the year 371, rebels controlled the entire area and Admiral Huros received more warships from Seria. But at the same time, Imperial armies were winning major victories against Khun and Kai Nem, and maintaining the blockade of Fralenda. And although Huros' fleet was large in large in size, with some 240 warships, an imperial fleet assembled near Meranonia that included 350 warships and sailed south to destroy Huros' fleet. Imperial disaster As of 372 AF, the imperial fleet that was sent to blockade the cities of Isdea had been successful in achieving its goals. The people of Kai Nem were starving, and the Khuni desperately trying to resist the invasion of the camponian land army. But on september 3rd, 372, the tide turned on the imperials. The Kingdom of Nimm, and island kingdom north of Isdea, was initially the only rebel state that chose to stay neutral and not lend a hand in the fight against Camponia. However, the economic effects of the war were already being felt, and with no end to the war in sight, Nimm decided to join the war against Camponia. In response to this, Grand leader Keng sent a large contingent of 100 warships to blockade Nimm and starve them into submission. The fleet sailed to Nimm through the Sinduan island cluster, hoping to reach Nimm within a month. But on september 3rd, a week into their journey, a severe storm hit the fleet and sunk all but 3 ships. The ships crashed against the rocks of the Siduan and broke against the severe winds. The 3 ships that managed to survive turned back south to tell of what happened. But Nimm knew as well, and sent word to other rebel leaders of what had happened. Now, the rebels agreed, was the time for another offensive. 2nd Taurian campaign and liberation of Freyl The imperial disaster in Siduan allowed the Nimm forces to reach Khun and assist in repelling the Camponian invaders. Their navy also assisted in lifting the blockade of Kai Nem. In the south, the taurian and britonian rebels were embarking on the riskiest military operation of the war. They were going to embark 8,000 taurian militias and 5,000 britonian soldiers across the bridging sea, past camponian naval patrols, and land in Freyl. Once there, the soldiers would assist in driving imperial forces from the peninsula. On the 8th of february, they launched the operation, and on the 20th of march succeeded. A few months later the imperial forces were completely driven out of Freyl. A few months after that, and the entire Idean peninsula was free. Though Camponia still controlled most of the sea, Emperor Chalder was becoming desperate. Yonnu Mercenaries As the manpower of the empire was draining, Grand Leader Keng and Emperor Chalder looked to other means of gaining soldiers to fight for the empire. The Yonnu were a large nomadic tribe that had settled east of